


A Hitsugaya Holiday

by justjoy



Series: In The Shoes Of Hitsugaya [3]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Gen, Humour/Crack, In which Hitsugaya is a workaholic, One Shot, Sculpture, Snow and Ice, Tearjerker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-26
Updated: 2012-06-12
Packaged: 2017-11-07 13:56:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/431911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justjoy/pseuds/justjoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hitsugaya Toushirou: taichou of the 10th Division, youngest shinigami to achieve bankai, embodiment of a heavenly guardian. But what happens when he deals with real life? A couple of oneshots detailing the everyday life of everyone's favourite child prodigy.</p><p>[snapshot, three: In which abductions are attempted, and competitions are coincidental.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Hitsugaya closed his eyes wearily - they were bleary from looking through the huge stack of paperwork that had somehow made it to his table, most of which needed authorization by either himself or Matsumoto.

Who, unfortunately, was nowhere to be seen.

In fact, his fukutaichou had been missing since lunch, which was a rare occurrence even for her. Normally, she would drag herself back to the Tenth Division headquarters and either doodle on the paperwork or sleep on the couch, depending on how hungover she was.

Pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes in a futile effort to revive them, Hitsugaya wondered, briefly, where Matsumoto had gone. She hadn't gone drinking, he knew, since he had just seen Kira, whom Matsumoto wouldn't drink without, pass outside the windows of his office.

_So where has she gone to?_

"Taichou!"

Hitsugaya winced as his fukutaichou's loud voice reached his ears. _Speak of the devil._ His head was beginning to pound.

_Looks like my question is about to be answered about… now._

And just on cue, the current object of Hitsugaya's annoyance bounded into the room, taking in his posture.

"Ooh, taichou, have you been sleeping? You –"

He turned to glare at her. The glare, which would have sent some to the Fourth Division immediately, had barely any effect on Matsumoto, although it  _did_  help to quieten her, something Hitsugaya was extremely grateful for.

"I have been doing  _paperwork_ , Matsumoto." The taichou hardly bothered to keep the sarcasm out of his voice, ignoring Matsumoto's – obviously faked – puppy eyes. "You  _do_  know what that is, don't you? If you don't, let me enlighten you. Paperwork is something that  _both_  you and I are supposed to do, not something that  _you_  dump on  _me_  before going out somewhere and subsequently disappearing for  _half a day_!"

By the end of his sentence, Hitsugaya had, in his usual way of multitasking, finished skimming another report from his third seat and was about to sign it when a piece of paper landed in front of him.

His eyes immediately caught the bold black words written across the top of the paper. The nature of it suddenly became clear to him, as clear as the throbbing pain from the now full-blown headache.

Barely a split of a second later, Matsumoto found herself, yet again, the victim of her taichou's icy glare, although this one was far more potent, and seemed to carry the promise of retribution if the owner of that glare was not satisfied.

Which he wasn't, not at all.

"Matsumoto." His voice was as icy as his glare. "What, precisely, is the meaning of this?"

"Don't be like that, taichou," she whined. "I spent  _three_  days trying to get this approved. I even had to go look for Yamamoto-soutaichou himself!"

Hitsugaya's glare did not diminish in the slightest bit. If anything, it intensified.

"That does not explain why I need  _this_." He pointed at the piece of paper that lay innocently on his desk.

Matsumoto sighed. She wondered how she was going to explain to her taichou why she had applied for two weeks' leave from work for him.

Much less the paper that she now hid behind her own back for her  _own_  leave from work.

* * *

_[One Week Later...]_

Matsumoto shivered slightly as she stepped out of the small chalet. The snow was coming down rather thickly for this time of the year, as the resort manager had informed her when she had rented the chalet.

She couldn't help but agree with him.

Although Matsumoto was certain that there was at least one person who didn't quite think so.

"Taichou?" she called out, voice slightly muffled by the scarf around her neck.

No answer. She guessed that he was hiding up some tree, brooding, which would be easy given his small frame, even though both of them were in gigai.

_Well, at least it's better than last week._

Matsumoto snickered at the recollection of her taichou's reaction when she had told him where she planned to bring him during this holiday. Or, as he had – quite accurately, she supposed – put it, abduct him to after forcing him to miss _two whole weeks_ of work.

_Although I wouldn't call it "forcing him to miss work"._ She pondered the phrasing for a moment.  _More like "allowing him to take a break from his job". Sounds much better._

In her honest opinion, her taichou's expression of utter horror had been worth all the trouble she had gone to.

And it was all because Matsumoto had told him that they were going to the beach.

* * *

_The beach._

_Honestly…_

Hitsugaya shook his head in disgust. There were always times when he didn't know what his fukutaichou was thinking, but he had been seriously doubted her sanity when she told him that they were headed for the  _beach_.

Matsumoto, of all people, should have known how much he detested going to beaches.  _Or anywhere warm, for that matter._

The only reason that she had gotten out of the taichou's office in one piece, unharmed, was because of her set of backup tickets – evidently suggested by Ukitake – to a resort in the Swiss Alps.

Which was where they were now.

He made a mental note to thank the Thirteenth Division taichou once he returned to Soul Society. That, and berate him for not telling Hitsugaya about Matsumoto's plans. Although, now that he thought about it... as much as Hitsugaya hated to admit it, he was actually _enjoying_  himself here.

Sort of, at least.

To some extent, that was to be expected, since he was always more agreeable when surrounded with ice and snow, both of which were present in abundance at the resort.

Then there had been the skiing lessons that Matsumoto had signed both of them up for – he had absolutely _no_ idea when she had gotten the time to arrange that. His familiarity with the element allowed him to excel at it, even being called a 'natural' by the coach. Matsumoto, however, had not been so lucky; she ended up stuck at the beginner's slope while he moved on.

That had brightened up his day considerably, much to the amusement of his zanpakutou.

Of course, Hyourinmaru had been even more delighted when Hitsugaya had finally consented to release him on the icy slopes. Both shinigami and zanpakutou reasoned that it wouldn't matter either way.

After all, this  _was_  the Swiss Alps. No one was really going to notice if the amount of ice covering the ground increased overnight.

In other words, this was the perfect place, both for training and having fun.

Not that Hitsugaya was about to tell Matsumoto that. He  _was_  honest and all that, but his dignity came first.

Especially when it came to his fukutaichou _._

* * *

A black-cloaked figure left the chalet quietly, heading towards the offices of the ski resort. It broke into a jog as it neared the office.

"Sir!"

The resort manager, who had been locking the doors, looked up at the newcomer. He smiled as he recognised her.

"Good evening, ma'am. How can I help you?"

She checked for eavesdroppers before replying.

"I need to ask you for a favour."

The manager listened as she carefully detailed her plans for a certain guest at the resort.

* * *

Matsumoto ran towards her taichou, frantically waving the leaflet she held in her hands.

"Taichou! Look at this!"

Reluctantly, and with a distinct sense of dread, Hitsugaya accepted the paper, reading it quickly.

According to several eyewitnesses, his strangled yell could be heard a kilometre away.

* * *

_Pink._

The signboard was  _pink_.

_Remind me... why I am here again?_ Hitsugaya asked himself.

He knew the answer, of course. It was because Matsumoto had, after much bargaining, agreed to do three months' worth of paperwork all by herself if he did one thing.

Win this competition.

"And it  _had_  to be an ice sculpturing competition," he muttered to himself.

Somehow, Hitsugaya suspected that his fukutaichou had something to do with organizing the competition. It was too much of a coincidence that it was only announced the day before, especially considering that this was the first time the resort was holding such a competition.

Unfortunately for Matsumoto, Hitsugaya did  _not_  believe in coincidences.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hitsugaya Toushirou: taichou of the 10th Division, youngest shinigami to achieve bankai, embodiment of a heavenly guardian. But what happens when he deals with real life? A couple of oneshots detailing the everyday life of everyone's favourite child prodigy.
> 
> [snapshot, three: In which abductions are attempted, and competitions are coincidental.]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Standard disclaimer applies.

Hitsugaya sighed. He had been staring at the block of ice for  _two_  hours and he still hadn't thought of anything.

In fact, he had walked around it so many times that he could almost memorize everything about it – its size and shape, the number of tiny cracks and imperfections that marred the otherwise smooth surface, even the exact shade of bluish-purple that it was.

The only real problem was that he just couldn't think of  _anything_  to do with it.

Hitsugaya was quite glad that he still had the rest of the day ahead of him to sculpt the ice. He suspected that it would take him at least another hour to think of a usable idea.

Honestly speaking, he would much rather be off training with Hyourinmaru than do this. Or out fighting Hollows, perhaps.

"Come to think of it, even  _paperwork_  might be preferable over this," he muttered to himself. 

Unfortunately, as it would seem, creativity was not one of his strengths.

He sat on the thick blanket of snow, running his hand over the ice. Briefly, Hitsugaya considered taking Matsumoto's suggestion.  _Although winning by releasing Hyourinmaru would_ really _be quite unfair to the other contestants,_ he thought.

The ice dragon gave a snort of agreement.

 _Out of the question, then._ He racked his brains for a moment. A sudden thought occurred to him - what Hinamori would do in his place?

_Hinamori…_

Thinking of his childhood friend reminded him of his days in Rukongai, when he had just arrived in Soul Society. Afraid, alone.

Defenseless.

Of course, he had been fortunate enough to arrive in Junrinan, the First District of West Rukongai. It was the most lawful district, being closest to the center. He couldn't have ended up in a safer place, considering the things he had heard from those who had lived in other districts, like Abarai and his own fukutaichou _._

But the fact remained that, although Hitsugaya had been safe from physical harm, he was still open to other attacks. There were things that could hurt more than swords or fists, as he knew all too well; sometimes, he wondered what would have happened if he hadn't met Hinamori, or his grandmother.

Most of the time, though, he didn't want to think about it.

It was only because of the two of them that he had happy memories of his years in Rukongai, even though he had been lonelier after Hinamori had left for the Academy.

Then he had met Matsumoto.

 _More like_ bumped _into her._  The taichou thought of their first meeting. _Quite literally._

Hitsugaya wondered whether either of them would have guessed back then that he would become her taichou. He didn't think so. They had seemed to be an unlikely pairing at the time, being as different as they had been.

As they still were, he realized. But their differences had somehow united them, allowing them to complement each other, even though they contrasted like light and dark did.

The thing was that, Hitsugaya couldn't even begin to imagine himself without these people by his side – and that was saying a lot.

Ever since childhood, he had been wary of relying on anyone, and avoided it almost completely. The feeling had only intensified as the years went by, with him sailing through the Academy, and graduating within a year, gaining him the title of "child genius"; and yet later, when he joined the Gotei 13, rising through the ranks rapidly by merit of his skill and abilities.

Nevertheless, he had never felt the need to be independent more keenly than the first time he had put on his captain's haori. The white garment, with the division insignia emblazoned on the back, seemed to tell him that he was on his own now, and he couldn't – wasn't supposed to – rely on anyone other than himself.

Even so, the pair had managed to worm through his defences. And as much as he would like to deny it, Hitsugaya  _had_  come to rely on them in many ways, for things big and small. Things that he would never thought that he needed, and which he would never have had otherwise.

Support. Protection. Comfort. And above all, friendship.

It wouldn't change, he knew. The two of them would always remain at his side. There would be occasions when their trust in each other wavered. There always were.

Maybe it was childish to think so, but he sometimes let himself believe that everything would turn out all right in the end, because they would always be there for him. No matter how much he refused to admit it to anyone else.

A sudden trickle of water across the back of his palm brought Hitsugaya back to the present. He shook his head, trying to clear it, all while wondering whether the mountain air was getting to him.

Or maybe it was just excessive exposure to Matsumoto.

After all, Hitsugaya Toushirou was known for many things, but certainly not for sentimentality.

Just then, a glint of light caught his eye. The weak sunlight was reflecting off a groove on the ice that hadn't been there before.

Hitsugaya realised, with some surprise, that it was actually part of a carving on the ice, which – considering that it was where his hand had been – had probably been caused by him unconsciously releasing reiatsu when he was thinking.

However, it was only when he backed up a few steps that he saw what the carving actually was. An expression of satisfaction flashed across his face for a moment.

He finally had an idea.

_Thank you, Hinamori._

* * *

_[Two Hours Later...]_

Matsumoto stifled a yawn. She had been skiing – or, at least,  _trying_  to ski – for nearly three hours, and she was tired.

Admittedly, about half that time had been spent "resting", which meant doing other recreational activities that didn't involve ice... but she still had to admit that her efforts were futile.

Ice was her taichou's element, after all. Not hers.

_And speaking of_ _taichou_ _…_

Even though she knew that it was childish, Matsumoto couldn't help feeling just the slightest bit of irritation at her taichou _._  He had chased her away after spending one hour looking at the ice – she had no idea  _why_  he didn't get bored of the plain, _boring_ block – and repeatedly ignored her suggestion of using Hyorinmaru to win. She was convinced that he would beat everyone else hands-down if he did that, and told him so in the most authoritative and convincing manner that she could manage. But he had just continued to walk around the block of ice, muttering something about "unfairness" before shooing her away.

Sometimes, Matsumoto thought that her taichou was just too morally upright for his own good. Being so ethical couldn't possibly be good for anyone's sanity.

And yet he didn't have any problems with it. She had given up on understanding why that was so a long, long time ago.

_Time to check on him, I guess._

__Returning her skis, Matsumoto began the short trek back to where she'd left her taichou _._ She wondered what he was doing.

* * *

He finally straightened, fingers slightly numb from the constant contact with the ice. As he inspected his work, Hitsugaya wondered how long it would be before Matsumoto came to see how he was faring.

The question was answered almost immediately.

* * *

As her taichouhad guessed, Matsumoto was actually quite nearby.

In fact, she was standing beneath a tree right outside the clearing he was in, and had been there for a whole minute. But she didn't see him anywhere, and the block of ice appeared the same to her.

 _Or was it?_ Matsumoto frowned. She wasn't sure, but she thought that the surface of the ice seemed slightly less even than it had just now.  _Might have been a trick of the light, though._

 __She stepped forward, moving towards the ice. _Only one way to find out._

The fukutaichou let out an involuntary gasp as she saw what was on the ice.

 _Taichou_ _did_ this _?_

She could barely believe her eyes. A series of carvings extended from one end of the block to the other, depicting various scenes from her taichou's life.

Her gaze travelled from one picture to another. Him, as a child, in Rukongai – talking to his grandmother – playing with a younger Hinamori – a noticeably taller Hinamori, now leaving for the Academy – meeting Matsumoto herself for the first time – joining the Academy – being accepted into the Gotei 13 – training with both Hinamori and Matsumoto – achieving his bankai – and finally, becoming the taichou of the Tenth Division.

"Matsumoto." Her taichou's voice broke her reverie. "You're back."

She whirled around to see him standing barely a foot behind her, concealing his reiatsu as usual.

Was it just her imagination, or did he really have a small smile on his face?

"So what do – MATSUMOTO!" Hitsugaya let out a yell as his words were cut off by Matsumoto's tight hug. Or as close to one as he could get, considering the sudden lack of air that followed.

Almost reluctantly, she let him go. "Sorry!" Her voice sounded contrite.

Of course, both of them also knew that the emotion was approximately a hundred and one percent fake.

He shook his head wordlessly as they stood together for a moment, looking at the ice. Then he began to walk back towards the chalet.

Matsumoto snapped out of her reverie with a start, rushing to follow him. "But taichou, it's so nice! You're going to  _win_  this competition–"

"You promised. Three months of paperwork if I win," he said, interrupting her.

She nodded distractedly, not bothering to stem the flow of excited babble. "I didn't know you were so good, taichou! I don't think any of the other taichous would believe this!"

As she continued to ramble on as they approached the chalet, Matsumoto imagined how her taichou would look like wearing the green scarf that was the first prize. It would really suit him, she knew.

Of course, she wasn't going to tell him that it matched him because  _she_ had chosen the gift, after all. 

And she  _definitely_  wasn't going to tell him that the "mystery gift" that came with the first prize – that, quite incidentally, had been suggested by her, too – was a hug from her.

There was  _no way_  she was going to tell him that.

No. Way.

Ever.

* * *

Hitsugaya thought, for a fleeting moment, that he had seen an extremely evil smile pass over Matsumoto's face.

He dismissed it as a figment of his imagination.

After all, what else could she do to him anyway?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Originally published on FanFiction.Net from 23 to 26 May, 2010.]


End file.
